Voyages Collection

The Voyages Collection comprises some 380 volumes about voyages to the Pacific Ocean by mainly European explorers.

These books were part of Robert McNab’s original gift to the Library in 1913. The collection contains a number of scarce titles and is written primarily in English and French, and contains wonderful maps and illustrations.

Titles include multi-volume sets, government-sponsored expedition reports and single volumes dating from the 18th to the early 20th century, as well as early editions covering the voyages of James Cook.

This is a very significant research collection.

Some notable books:

Voyage Autour de Monde par George Anson by Richard Walter was printed in 1751. This is a French version of Anson’s book, printed three years after the first English edition.

Narrative of the Mutiny on Board His Majesty’s Ship Bounty by William Bligh is from 1790. Our copy is Captain Bligh’s own private edition, including annotations and has been in New Zealand since at least 1863.

Viaggio Pittoresco Intorno al Mondo Publicato Sotto la Direzione del Sig. Dumont d’Urville. This unusual book was part of a four-volume magazine-style work, written in Italian by Antonelli Venezia and published in 1841.

An account of a voyage in search of La Perouse, undertaken by order of the Constituent Assembly of France, and performed in the years 1791, 1792, and 1793, in the Recherche and Esperance, ships of war, under the command of Rear-Admiral Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, by Jacques-Julien Houtou de La Billardiere. This is a second edition printed in 1802.